Business briefs, July 3

DURHAM – Viamet Pharmaceuticals, a Durham-based early-stage firm that’s developing a series of antifungal drugs, wants to raise $75 million in an initial public offering.

The company is working to complete two proof-of-concept Phase 2a clinical trials for a treatment for vaginal yeast infections and for athlete’s foot.

In addition, it’s working on an oral treatment for cryptococcoal meningitis, an invasive fungal infection of the lining of the brain and spinal cord. The company expects to submit an investigational new drug application for the drug to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the first half of 2015.

The company would use the net proceeds of the offering to pay for the ongoing development of its treatment candidate for vaginal yeast infections and for athlete’s foot, as well as to advance its pipeline of additional product candidates, according to a regulatory filing.

Holden Thorp, former chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was a company co-founder.

Video game convention coming to Durham

DURHAM -- The Triangle Game Initiative is bringing a new video game convention called tiltExpo to the Durham Convention Center Sept. 4-7.

The event, which will include vendors, games and live action play, is being targeted to thousands of people who previously attended the Escapist Expos in Durham.

“By bringing games back to Durham, we hope to fill the void that the area is experiencing by the absence of an Escapist Expo…” Walter Rotenberry, co-president of the Triangle Game Initiative, said in a statement.

Rotenberry said the event will also have entertainment and social activities.

“Whether you're into board gaming, CCGs, console games or tabletop RPGs --Tilt Expo is the place to be,” said Zachary Boyd, managing director of tiltExpo.

The Triangle Game Initiative is a non-profit trade association for video game companies in North Carolina. It was a partner in the two-day East Coast Game Conference at the Raleigh Convention Center earlier this year.

For tiltExpo, Triangle Game Initiative is partnering with Durham native The Escapist Magazine, owned by Defy Media.

“Downtown Durham is our hometown, and nothing makes us happier than to see the hometown flourish,” said Alexander Macris, senior vice president of Defy Media’s emerging brands. “When TGI asked us how we'd feel about having them host a game festival in Durham this year, we signed on immediately as their media partner.”

For more information on the event, go to the website www.tiltExpo.com.